His goal: to raise awareness about cancer while raising funds for Mercy Cancer Center. Chris, who turns 50 this October, says nearly everyone in his family has been touched by cancer. He will ride in their honor and memory.

His chosen distance commemorates the legacy of Mercy's founders, the Sisters of Charity of St. Augustine, who left Boulogne-Sur-Mer, France, on September 24, 1851 - the Feast Day of Our Lady of Mercy - to care for the people of northeast Ohio.